Organizational Climate in Police Investigative Work: A Comparative Analysis of Police Investigators and Investigative Trainers

Abstract

The aim of this study is twofold: First, it seeks to identify organizational climate aspects that are considered important by police investigators and investigative trainers in the context of police investigation. Second, it examines how these various aspects of organizational climate are perceived by the two samples. Open-ended interviews were conducted in order to generate information about the organizational climate aspects, respectively with 51 police investigators from 16 of the 27 police districts in Norway and 27 investigative trainers from the Norwegian Police University College. In addition, 76 police investigators from all 27 police districts and 22 investigative trainers responded to the Organizational Climate Measure (OCM) questionnaire, which examined how the various dimensions of organizational climate were perceived. Overall, the results showed both similarities and differences between the two organizations regarding their organizational climate. Both samples considered “Integration”, “Training” and “Quality” as important in relation to investigation, but differed in that police investigators were more concerned about “Formalization” compared to investigative trainers who emphasized “Outward focus” when reflecting upon police investigative work. Furthermore, the findings reveal that both organizational climates may be characterized by the dimensions “Welfare” and “Quality”. However, police investigators experienced more “Formalization” and “Pressure to produce”, while investigative trainer reported high levels of “Autonomy” and “Supervisory support”. The findings revealed that the OCM captured 63% of the statements from police investigators and 60% of the statements from investigative trainers, indicating that both samples consider the organizational climate important in relation to police investigation.